Description
Book SynopsisFeatures a different to the study of groups, and argues that we should judge associations not only by what they do for civic virtue, but also by what they do for individual members. This book shows that groups of various kinds fill psychological and moral needs. It concludes that American democracy should permit expansive freedom of association.
Trade ReviewWinner of the David Easton Prize "Nancy L. Rosenblum in Membership and Morals has produced a powerful argument that the worriers have got it wrong--or at least they have chosen the wrong things to worry about... Part of the attractiveness of her thesis is that it purports to cut across the usual lines of political battle... The bulk of her book is made up of an impressive survey of the hard cases of social affiliation ... and her defense in every case of the rights of people in a democratic society to associate with those of like mind and belief."--James Bowman, The Times Literary Supplement "Political theory, moral philosophy, and constitutional law desperately require a rigorous analysis of the role associations ought to play in sustaining good society. Such an analysis is precisely Nancy Rosenblum's great accomplishment."--Alan Wolfe, The New Republic "Membership and Morals is a thoughtful, challenging, and carefully nuanced book that should be read by all serious scholars of civil society."--Claire Morgan, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Associations and the Moral Anxieties of Liberalism3Pt. 1Pluralism and Liberal Expectancy231Civil Society: Getting the Dangers Right252The Morality of Association47Pt. 2Voluntary Associations713Religious Associations: Constitutional Incongruence734Corporate Culture and Community at Home1125Compelled Association: Democratic Equality and Self-Respect1586Membership and Voice1917Secret Societies and Private Armies: Conspiracism and Clear and Present Danger2398"Fusion Republicanism" and Paramilitary Paul Reveres2859Identity Groups and Voluntary Association: Filling in the Empty Politics of Recognition319Conclusion: Navigating Pluralism: The Democracy of Everyday Life349Notes365Index417
